Comics Therapy. No Reviews. Just Analysis.

Two books from February 19, 2014. Plus your Nerd Confessions (about the most impactful retcons in comics) and Aaron's Inner Child.

Show Notes:

This
week’s theme is retcons, Comics Therapy-style. We’re looking at two
books that take characters from mythology and literature that we all
know and drop them down in an unexpected place or time.
Reinterpretations are nothing new in comics, or storytelling in general.
Sometimes transporting a premise or a character from his or her origins
breathes new insight into a stagnant tale you hadn’t thought about in
years.

The Greek Mythof King Midas, set in the future, in space, by way of Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle. That last part is totally Andrea's opinion, by the way.

J.M. Barrie's Peter & Wendy, set in World War II, in France, by way of the French Resistance.

Mr.
Janson has been a prominent penciller and inker for both Marvel and DC
Comics for over 40 years. He worked with Frank Miller on Daredevil in the 1970s and collaborated with Miller again on The Dark Knight Returns
a decade later. Mr. Janson has taught at the School of Visual Arts in
New York City since the 1990s. Recently, DC announced that he would join
John Romita Jr. on the upcoming Geoff Johns Superman run.

(Editor's
note: This interview may seem slightly out of order. Rather than cut it
together to fit our usual intro-questions-closings format, we left it
as the conversation naturally developed. Mr. Janson's actual
introduction occurs at 54:38, if you're looking for the formal start to
the question and answer portion of the discussion.)

This week’s theme is WAR. Good god, y’all. Apropos of nothing our friends Ben Bailey and Joey Esposito from the Assemble After Dark podcast have declared war on Comics Therapy. Yeaahhhh. We don't know what that means, either. You all should check their show, however. And in the meantime, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to talk about
fighting. Especially since it’s Valentine’s Day. It’s so meta, we can’t stand it.

A
frighteningly plausible look inside high-stakes weapons development in
the US military, that somehow manages to feel neither too unapproachably
political nor too military-centric. Tony Stark has nothing on Dr. David
Loren.

February 7, 2014 @ 7:07 pm

And after a three month hiatus, we welcome back the return of Grief Counseling.

Show Notes:

This
week’s theme is all about lying. Lies we tell ourselves. Lies we tell each other. Sometimes they’re the same, and sometimes they’re dangerously different. As a storytelling device, they can be exciting, stressful and hilarious. In real life, it’s a lot more complicated. Both of the solo books we’re analyzing this week feature characters known for their crafty web of lies. It’s a good time to have deception as your superpower in the Marvel universe.

Last year, Andrea started reading The Walking Dead for the first time. The consequences were fairly dire, with lots of wailing and gnashing of teeth. But as time went on, she grew to love tolerate this series, much to Aaron's sick delight. It's been three months since we last checked in. You may be surprised to see how this turns out.

The theme of the show this week is being
alone. Sure, you can call it solitude. Sure, you can get all
introspective about it. Sure, you can even claim you like it. But at the
end of the day? You're alone, man. How does that really make you feel?